OTTAWA – The Canadian Labour Congress says that the federal government is getting poor value for the $31 billion that it has provided in corporate tax breaks during the past four years.

“The government’s policy of cutting corporate taxes and hoping that the private sector will create jobs is just not working,” says CLC President Ken Georgetti. “The Finance Minister admits that there is a lot of cash sloshing around on corporate balance sheets. They are getting big tax breaks but they are sitting on the money rather than creating jobs.”

There were almost 1.4 million Canadians unemployed in August, well above the number prior to the Great Recession which began in October 2008. The rate of unemployment in August 2011 was 7.3 % compared to 6.1% in October 2008. The unemployment rate for young people in August 2011 was 14%.

Georgetti says that as Parliament resumes the Canadian economy and those of other industrialized countries are slowing down while unemployment remains high. “We have to create new jobs and the government has failed to tie corporate tax cuts to job creation by the private sector.”

The Canadian Labour Congress, the national voice of the labour movement, represents 3.2 million Canadian workers. The CLC brings together Canada’s national and international unions along with the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 130 district labour councils. Web site: www.canadianlabour.ca. Follow us on Twitter @CanadianLabour